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Kourna is cornered
Tennis babe Anna Kournikova is to wed a hunky ice ace after a whirlwind courtship. Hockkey star Pavel Bure, 28, proposed during a romantic meal at a top restaurant. As thrilled diners looked on, he got down on one knee to lob the question and Anna, above, had no hesitationin saying "yes". The 18-year-old smasher's engagement to her fellow Russian will stun millions of besotted fans. Pavel, who plays for the Florida Panthers, handed Anna a pink rose as they smooched at the Forge restaurant in Miami Beach. Boss Shareef Malnik said: "Pavel called me and said 'Hey, I just popped the question - come over and celebrate'. "I had a champagne toast with them." Shareef added: "He is the nicest, most down to earth guy you'd ever want to meet and they're going to have beautiful babies. They'll be beautiful, strong, fast, perfect." Only last month blonde Anna was linked with Aussie tennis star Mark Philippousis after the pair were spotted kissing in a car. She insisted they were "just good friends". But admireres will be amazed at how Pavel, known as the Russian Rocket, has netted sport's sexiest pin-up. She even featured in her own daily Kourna Corner in The Sun during last summer's Wimbledon tournament. The world No.11 had a lengthy affair with another Russian ice hockey star, Dergei Federov. But Anna always denied wedding rumours.
Anna gets engaged
This is the look of love that shows Anna Kournikova is about to break the hearts of thousands of male admirers by getting married. The 18-year-old tennis beauty holds a single rose as she gazes into the eyes of ice hockey star Pavel Bure. The couple appeared totally besotted when they were photographed at a celebration dinner in Miami's Forge restaurant, constantly hugging and giggling together. The engagement was revealed by Forge owner Shareef Malnik. He said: "Yes, Pavela nd Anna got engaged at my restaurant. I was on my way to a party when Pavel called and said: 'Hey, I just popped the question, come over and celebrate.' I had a champagne toast with them and then we went together to the party." Anna, whose looks have earned her millions in sponsorship deals, has known 28-year-old Pavel for only four months. Last summer she was dating Sergei Federov, another Russian ice hockey player. He was with her at Wimbeldon where she sported a ring on her engagement finger, sparking rumours they were to wed. Anna and Pavel have been almost inseparable since she fell for Sergei's former team-mate. When she competes abroad, they keep in touch with dozens of phone calls each day. Pavel, who plays for the Florida Panthers, has moved into a 40th and 41st floor apartment in the Fort Lauderdale block where Anna lives. She is three storeys above him in a £2million penthouse with a roof garden and swimming pool. The couple were first spotted flirting in a New York restaurant in November. Shareef added: "Pavel is just about the nicest, most down-to-earth guy you'd ever want to meet." But ominously, there has been no comment so far from Anna's formidable mother Alla, who lives with her daughter and keeps a very close on her. Last year Alla was adamant Anna had no intention of marriage.
Love Match for 2 Athletes
 Tennis pinup Anna Kournikova and hockey golden boy Pavel Bure are headed for the altar, it was reported yesterday. Bure, known to National Hockey League fans as the Russian Rocket, popped the question to 18-year-old Kournikova at a Miami restaurant over the weekend, Britain's Sun newspaper said. Tennis pinup Anna Kournikova and hockey golden boy Pavel Bure are headed for the altar, it was reported yesterday. Bure, known to National Hockey League fans as the Russian Rocket, popped the question to 18-year-old Kournikova at a Miami restaurant over the weekend, Britain's Sun newspaper said. Her answer was "da." The blond and beautiful tennis star was photographed with Bure holding a pink rose for her in his hands. Diners at The Forge restaurant said the cat-quick, high-scoring right-winger asked for his lady love's hand on bended knee. Shareef Malnik, owner of The Forge, said the romantic scene played out Friday night. "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," Malnik said. "I was on my way to a party, and Pavel called and said, 'Hey, I just popped the question —come on over and celebrate.' They called me over for a champagne toast with them." "Let me tell you one thing," Malnik added. "They are going to have beautiful babies — beautiful, strong, fast, perfect." It was unclear if a wedding date has been set. Kournikova and the 28-year-old Florida Panthers star are neighbors in a trendy south Miami Beach apartment building and have been inseparable recently. They met four months ago. The couple apparently became smitten with each other after Kournikova's romance with Bure's teammate Sergei Fedorov fizzled. Although rumors linked Kournikova to tennis player Mark Philippoussis during the Australian Open after she was seen in the center court stands cheering the home favorite, they insisted they were just friends. Bure, the son of a three-time Olympic swimmer, won Most Valuable Player honors during the NHL All-Star game Feb. 7. The couple, both known for their sex appeal as well as their athletic feats, have appeared on magazine covers, are sought after for personal appearances and have garnered millions in sponsorship deals. Both have dozens of Internet Web sites devoted to them, ranging from fan clubs to memorabilia shopping spots to sites that feature photos of Kournikova in tennis togs, bathing suits and evening gowns.
Bure, Kournikova set to wed Pavel Bure's much-publicized romance with Anna Kournikova apparently has escalated into wedding plans. The Panthers superstar didn't dispute Monday a published report that he asked Kournikova to marry him Friday night while the two were eating at Bure's favorite Miami Beach restaurant, the Forge. Asked if the report was true, he said, "Well, maybe, yeah. We don't deny it." Pressed for more information, he said, "We'll know the details when she gets back in town next month." Kournikova is scheduled to play in an upcoming tournament in Phoenix. Bure, 28, and Kournikova, 18, are two of the most famous Russian athletes performing on the world stage. Bure leads the NHL in goals, while Kournikova is a ranked tennis player who, so far at least, has gotten much more notice for her looks than her game. The two started dating this season, whereupon Bure purchased a condo in the same South Beach building where Kournikova had been living. Kournikova has since been a frequent visitor to Panthers games.
Confirmed, maybe: Bure, Kournikova engaged Panthers right wing Pavel Bure confirmed -- in a roundabout way -- that he's engaged to professional tennis player Anna Kournikova, as The Herald's People column reported Monday. "Well, maybe, yeah, but we don't deny it," Bure said. "We'll tell details when she gets back in town in the middle of March." Bure said Kournikova was in Phoenix now. They were both at Miami Beach's The Forge, Bure's favorite South Florida restaurant, Friday night until about 10:30 p.m. Owner Shareef Malnik told The Herald that Bure, 28, proposed to Kournikova, 18, at his restaurant that night. Bure and Kournikova each owns a condominium at Portofino, a South Beach high rise. In fact, Kournikova bought hers two years ago with Detroit center Sergei Fedorov, a former Bure teammate in junior. Kournikova and Fedorov were an item for almost three years and she was seen at Red Wings games up until Thanksgiving. Fedorov was unavailable for comment.
Bure brothers have new goal Moscow-born sharpshooters Pavel and Valeri Bure seem to be taking aim on becoming the highest single-season brotherly scoring act in NHL history. With Valeri picking uphis 31st goal for the Calgary Flames Saturday night, the tandem now has 73 between them - leaving them 15 short of Bobby and Dennis Hull's mark of 88 set in 1968-69. "It's possible (the Bures) could end up getting 100 in a season," says NHL coach Jacques Demers, who was Valeri's first coach in Montreal. "I think Valeri is just starting to come into his own. Pavel can get 60, and Valeri can get 40. It's very possible." Demers wasn't speaking about this season, but even that can't be ruled out. With 20 games left, it doesn't seem likely Pavel will get 18 more goals. But he has a history of torrid streaks, such as earlier this season when he netted 12 goals in eight games. With 19 games left, Valeri is on a pace for 40. Pavel is in a three-game goal drought, although the Florida Panthers aren't concerned because he had scoring chances in each. "He gets four or five great chances a game," general manager Bryam Murray says. Since joining the Panthers last season, he has 55 goals in 65 games and has created a buzz around the NHL every time he steps on the ice. Having played inVancouver at the start of his career, Pavel has been only a legend in his own time zone. Now playing most of his games in the East, Pavel seems almost to have been re-discovered by the hockey world. "Pavel is an amazing player," says St.Louis Blues GM Larry Pleau. "Of allplaces that (teams) spend money, that's pretty well spent. He's a ball of entertainment. He brings people to their feet." Given his electrifying speed, Pavel is given licenseto float up high in the defensive zone. But Murray says the Panthers have discovered that reduces the amount of offensive pressure an opponent can direct at them. "It backs the other team's other defenceman off the blue line because they have to keep an eye on them," Murray says. "They can't pinch. He gives us a chance to get the puck out of trouble." Murray said Pavel plays that way more early in a game than late. His quickness and hands make him and effective poke-checker when the Panthers need to ply defensive. "But he is a gambler," Murray says. "He's always looking to go." Valeri gets less fanfare but almost as much respect as an offensive threat. He has played a major role in keeping Calgary competitive. At 25, he's a superior player than when Demers coached him his first two seasons inMontreal. "This is an outgoing, smiling kid, and there is nothing phony about him," demers says. "It took him a while to get where he is, but he has many good years ahead of him."
Buffalo 5, Florida 2 SUNRISE, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- With rumors of romance in the air, the Buffalo Sabres quickly took the heart out of the Florida Panthers. On a night when Florida sniper Pavel Bure reportedly confirmed his engagement to sexy tennis star Anna Kournikova, Buffalo scored the first four goals and cruised to a 5-2 triumph. According to Panthers' beat reporters, Bure proposed to the 18-year-old Kournikova over the weekend. No wedding date has been announced and Bure, 28, plans to make a formal announcement when Kournikova returns to Florida later this month. The Sabres apparently were not caught up in the gossip as they scored four times in a 15-minute span bridging the first and second periods. Stu Barnes scored twice around goals by Alexei Zhitnik and Erik Rasmussen. Pavel Bure scored Panther's first goal and was a minus one on seven shots on goal.
Report: Bure pops question to Kournikova in Miami SUNRISE, Fla. -- NHL star Pavel Bure said he popped the question to tennis player Anna Kournikova -- and she accepted. The Russian Rocket said he proposed to Kournikova, also Russian, on Friday night at Miami Beach restaurant, The Forge. He did not announce a wedding date. Kournikova, 18, a favorite of Britain's tabloids, was photographed with Bure holding a pink rose. "We'll tell details when she gets back in town in the middle of March," Bure said before the Florida Panthers' game against Buffalo on Monday night. The top-selling British Sun tabloid said Bure, also a Russian, proposed on bended knee as stunned diners looked on.
 "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," The Forge's owner Shareef Malnik was quoted as saying. Russian newspapers first paired Kournikova off with the 28-year-old hockey player, a former teammate of her former boyfriend Sergei Fedorov, in December. But in January, the media rumor mill linked her with Mark Philippoussis during the Australian Open after she was seen in the centre court stands cheering on the Australian home favorite. Both insisted they were just friends. Bure, known as the Russian Rocket, plays for the Florida Panthers and won the title of most valuable player during the 50th National Hockey League All-Star game on Feb. 7. The Mirror said Kournikova, whose looks have earned her millions in sponsorship deals, had known him just four months. Bure and Kournikova are neighbors in an apartment building in trendy south Miami Beach.
Kozlov looms large for Bure PAVEL BURE certainly wanted to be helpful, wanted to give his questioner a decent comment on the likelihood he'll face Dominik Hasek tonight as the latest stumbling block on his path to a 50-goal season. But no go. "I really don't think about who is in the other net," Bure said yesterday while considering tonight's test against Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres. "I don't really like to think about it before the game, and during the game I usually have two or three guys on me so I'm lucky to get a shot." To Bure, the enemy goalie isn't a person, just a living, moving, masked obstacle in his relentless pursuit of goals. Whether it's Carolina's Arturs Irbe two nights ago, Hasek tonight or Curtis Joseph of the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the Russian Rocket apparently doesn't waste time on scouting reports or specific strategies. Similarly, it really hasn't mattered much to Bure over the course of his NHL career the identity of the players with which he has been aligned on forward units. He's never been part of a notable duo - although he apparently got engaged to tennis star Anna Kournikova on the weekend - let alone an established trio. The names and faces have always changed despite the fact he's only played on two teams, Vancouver and Florida. That has changed to a significant degree this season, for almost without exception Bure has skated with 24-year-old Viktor Kozlov as his centreman. While Bure has sizzled consistently and leads all NHLers with 42 goals, Kozlov has not surprisingly enjoyed a breakthrough season seven years after being the sixth player taken in the '93 NHL entry draft. As of yesterday he was tied with Doug Weight for third place in league assists with 42, managed another three helpers in his first all-star appearance in Toronto this month and is well on his way to the best season of his young career. But how much of this is Kozlov, and how much is Bure? Moreover, it seems clear that the Achilles heel of this very good Florida team is the real possibility that Kozlov will struggle in his very first exposure to the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, which may in turn neutralize Bure. "I don't know what to expect," said Kozlov grimly yesterday. "I've watched the playoffs on TV. I know every shift is important, every moment is important." The Panthers have played mediocre hockey since the break, and most recently a lack in production from the Kozlov-Bure combination has been part of the problem. In the club's last four games, Kozlov has a goal but no assists, while Bure has one goal. Not surprisingly, Florida has lost three of the four. Kozlov has always been viewed as an enigma, a little too indifferent or lazy for some tastes. His consistent production this season suggests he is maturing as a pro. "Maybe I'm getting older, getting smarter," he smiled. "I know it's important how I prepare for games because in this league every team in the league can beat every other team. When I played in Russia I played for Dynamo and we just beat everybody, so sometimes you didn't have to play all that hard. Here, if you don't play hard, it doesn't work." Head coach Terry Murray hasn't been able to find a consistent fit for the left wing spot beside Kozlov and Bure, which also looms as a problem. Still, it's Kozlov and Bure that will have to fuel any Panther playoff drive. The focus will be on Bure, but the heavy pressure will undoubtedly be on Kozlov.
Thus far, Florida Panthers superstar Pavel Bure has been as good at deflecting questions about his love match with 18-year-old tennis star Anna Kournikova as he is at slapping the puck into the net. But the couple's days of denial may have come to an end after this past weekend. According to Shareef Malnik, owner of The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach, Bure asked for Kournikova's hand in marriage on Friday night. "Yes, Pavel and Anna got engaged at my restaurant," Malnik said Sunday. "Pavel called and said, 'Hey, I just popped the question - come on over and celebrate.' They called me over for a champagne toast with them." Kournikova and the 28-year-old Bure - whom Malnik describes as "just about the nicest, most down-to-earth guy you'd ever want to meet" - are known for their sex appeal almost as much as for their athletic ability. "Let me tell you one thing," Malnik says. "They're going to have beautiful babies - beautiful, strong, fast, perfect. Very nice gene pool there."
Carolina's Ron Francis slipped past two defenders along the right boards before threading a pass in front of the net. Pavel Bure was the only Panther near O'Neill, who flipped a point-blank shot past goaltender Mike Vernon's glove for his team-best seventh game-winner. The overtime loss, had Pavel at minus one for the night, and only three shots on goal. Pavel's pointless streak is now at three games.
CBC created a great 7 minute video profiling Pavel Bure for the All-Star game. It is now available on the Internet.
 Alan Abel profiles Pavel Bure
Pavel in 'Sports Illustrated'
The February 28 edition of 'Sports Illustrated' has a four page article title "Boris Good Enough?"
"Boris Good Enough?"You bet he was! Players from the former Soviet Union, who 10 seasons ago arrived in the NHL to loathing and mistrust, have made the league bigger, better and brassier.They hated him. He understood why the men in the other uniforms, the ones who slashed him and elbowed him and finished their checks head-high, acted the way they did, but during the dreary 1989-90 season, Slava Fetisov thought that if he were to have a heart attack in the dressing room, some of his New Jersey Devils teammates would be as likely to call for takeout as they would an ambulance. Fetisov, a man who skated backward all his life but never retreated, would slink home after practice, awash in self-pity and self-doubt, wondering why he even bothered trying to fit in. Fetisov was the most celebrated defenseman since Bobby Orr. He had won Olympic gold medals, world championships, a Canada Cup. He was 31 years old and finally free to play anywhere he wanted. He also was weary. He'd assumed the battle to control his own destiny was over when, in May 1989, the Soviet hockey federation told him he could leave the U.S.S.R. to play in North America. Fetisov, one of eight Soviet players to arrive in the NHL 10 seasons ago, never imagined he'd have to fight through the loathing and mistrust of NHL players scared red. "A lot of guys, mostly older players and a few fringe guys who felt their jobs were in jeopardy, were really anti-Russian," says Brendan Shanahan, a teammate of Fetisov's with the Devils that season and later with the Detroit Red Wings. "It wasn't overt. When a teammate makes a mistake, you want to cover for him, support him, but you had the sense that some guys wanted to see Slava fail. You had to be a real jerk not to like him, because he was a real gentleman and so gregarious, but think about the context. Slava came over in 1989. [The Soviet invasion of] Afghanistan was not all that long before. Growing up in Canada and the UNited States, we'd been taught that the Russians were the enemy. The 1980 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Olympic hockey game was more than a game, right? In the 1987 world juniors the Canadians had a bench clearing brawl with the Soviets. We couldn't understand them; they couldn't understand us. Now they were coming here and taking our jobs in our league? "That's why I have so much respect for Slava. If he'd fought every guy who thre an extra elbow at him that year, he would've been fighting every shift. For Russians, he was the Jackie Robinson of hockey. He opened doors. He took all the cheap shots and played with a smile on his face." The past is dead. Today the treatment Fetisov, now a New Jeraey assistant coach, received from teammates when he arrived sems as if it occurred sometime before the Paleozoic Era. There are about 65 players from the former Soviet Union - Russians, Latvians, Ukranians, Belarussians, Lithuanians and a Kazakh - in the NHL. They occupy about 10% of the league's roster slots. They include the most thrilling performer (Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure), the most venerable (Detroit's 39-year-old center, Igor Larionov), the most daring (Colrado Avalanche defensemannSandis Ozolinsh) and the most pugnacious (Pitssburgh Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis). Every team in the NHL except the Phoenix Coyotes and the St.Louis Blues has at least one player from the former U.S.S.R. In the last decade ex-Soviets have been named MVP (Sergei Federov of the RedWings, in 1994) and won Stanley Cups. They've been captains. They've been stars, role players, goons. They dump the puck and chase it. They have contract disputes. They have been accepted. "The stereotypes have been broke," Penguins coach Herb Brooks says. "It might have been easier to put a man on the moon than to change NHL thinking, but it happened." On feb.6 in Toronto the NHL played and All-Star Game that for the third straight year matched North American stars against Worl stars. Among the 25 World AA-Stars were five Russians and Ozolinsh, a Latvian. The revolution is over. Hockey won. The NHL game in 2000 is a rich stew: a dash of crisscrossing, a pinch of digging along the boards and a sprinkling of dump-and-chase. The ingredients have been simmering for more thana quarter of a century, and if the former Soviet players were the last to follow American collegians and Swedes and Finns and Czechs and Slovaks into the pot, they were also the impetus for the arrival of those other Europeans. The Soviets lit the fire in the 1972 Summit Series against Canada, when the supposedly outclassed U.S.S.R. stunningly beat the Canadians in three out of eight games. "They were the trigger," says Toronto Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden, a goalie in that series. "In the years after that series, we were measuring ourselves against them." If the NHL sems a duller place than it did 10 years ago, don't blame the Russians. The successors to Fetisov and Larionov - Bure, Federov, and Alexander Mogilny of the Vancouver Canucks - are bold spices in the NHL kitchen and have perhaps even forestalled the dead-puck era by a few years with their offensive gifts. "Federov, Bure, [Ottawa Senators holdout center Alexei] Yashin, [Chicago Blackhawks center Alex] Zhamnov - these guys have style," Larionov says. "Skating, stickhandling, vision, unpredictable moves. That's what the Russians gave this game." They also helped give the NHL enough talented players to expand from 21 teams in 1979-80 to the 30 that will skate next season. "At first Russians were cheap labor," says NHL vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy. "You could pay them $200,000 a year, and they'd be delighted" - hardly shocking consdiering that Larionov made $200 a month before the Soviet hockey federation freed him to come to North America. The price of today's Russians has jumped considerably, because they have come to see that their services in a talent starved-league are invaluable. "There's a direct correlation between expansion and the influx of Russians," New York Rangers general manager Neil Smith says. "You could field three teams with those players if you wanted to." The question was, Who wanted to? In the early 1990's the Mogilny-led second wave was arriving, and the paranoia that New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello contends was being perpetuated by owners and general managers had begun to subside. Still, many NHL higher-ups were reluctant to entrust a Stanley Cup quest to players who had been reared on Olympic medals. "The guy I remember most from that era was [Winnipeg Jets general manager] Mike Smith," says Neil Smith, who's no relation. "Basically he told everybody to get bent. His answer to 'How many Russians can you have?' was 'Twenty, if they're your best players.'" Mike Smith is now the Blackhawks' manager of hockey operations. Even today not everyone embraces his point of view, but Smith is no longer viewed as the raving iconoclast who had the Winnipeg media grumbling about the R factor. "They thought the arrival of the Russians was an anti-Canadian conspiracy," Smith says, "and that I was the lead conspirator." Smith told reporters that they'd better learn to spell the new players' names because soon every team would have four or five players from the former Soviet Union. "Scouts were the least resistant to Russians," Mike Smith says. "The coaches, there's a still a bit of reluctance. I think it starightened out pretty quickly on the player level. The transition is going to be smooth if a guy can help you on the ice, if he's a good guy, if you can have a beer with him." If the situation of the players from the former Soviet Union seems no more remarkable than that of many immigrants, imagine 65 Americans going to play in the Russian league - new language, new culture, bigger international rinks. "I don't think people can understand what we went through: the language, the way people do things, the structure of an organization," Federov says. "I don't want to sound arrogant about it. We don't even talk about it ourselves. Everybody has tough times adjusting from one society to another, and it was our choice to be here." There were milestones on the way to acceptance: the 1992 draft, in which seven former Soviet players were selected among the 17 picks; Mogilny's 76-goal season with the Buffalo Sabres in '93 and his second-team All-Star selection that year; Federov's winning the Hart and the Selke trophies the following season; the Rangers' Cup victory in '94 over Bure-led Vancouver in which New York featured Alexander Karpotsev, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov and Sergei Zubov, it's regular-season scoring leader, and Russian names were inscribed for the first time on the NHL's ultimate calling card. "In our business whoever wins the Cup is accepted as the benchmark," Neil Smith says. "Zubov was a significant part of it, Nemchinov was a role-playing soldier, Kovalev was an untapped talent, and Karpovtsev was a role-playing defenseman. Not only did they contribute, but they were obviously different players and different personalities. On one hand you had Nemchnov, who was almost military in presence, and you had Kovalev, who was Peter Pan. We proved you could win with Russians." However, even as Detroit stomped to an NHL-record 62 wins in 1995-96, whispers persisted that the Wings relied too heavily on Russians. The endorsement of the Russians bu the Lombardi-Auerbach-McGraw of his business, coach Scotty Bowman, who has pushed for the trades that brought Fetisov and Larionov to detroit and then played them as a unit with Federov, Slava Kozlov and Vladimir Konstantinov, was ignored. Bowman howled throughout the season that officiating was tilted against his Russian Five - NHL referees stoutly denied it - but Neil Smith insists Bowman was not indulging in his typical gamesmanship. "There is no doubt in my mind Russians were discriminated against by refs at the time," Smith says. "I really believe a guy whose name ended in ov had to absorb a lot more slashes to get a penalty called than a guy named Smith." Not until the Red Wings won the Cup in 1997 - capatain Steve Yzerman first passed it to Fetisov, a gesture that oozed symbolism - did the Russians' unofficial probation end. "To see Igor and Slava, two guys who grew up in the Soviet system, embrace the Cup, that was the moment," Shanahan says. "It was over." "Konstantinov was the key," Dryden says of the perpenturally nasty defenseman whose career ended six days after the Wings won the Cup when he was injured in a limo accident. "While Russians always have played a tough style relative to European hockey, it took somebody like Konstantinov to symolize what the Russians had always been, and to get them over the hump in terms of the last piece of the reputation." In 2000 the battleground for players from the former Soviet Union has shifted. Russian players have been involved in some of the most high-profile contract wars - Federov's 1997-98 stalemate with the Red Wings, Bure's '98 demand that the Canucks trade him, Yashin's refusal to honor his contract with the Senators this season - that have lent credence to a popular theory that Russians are high-maintenance. Yashin's walkout, his third contract dispute in six years with Ottawa, has been ripe fodder for anyone wanting to refight the Cold War. "High-maintenance? For the most part, no," says Detroit general manager Ken Holland says, "but they're very strong-willed. For them to be even here - especially Larionov and Fetisov, who fought the system, and the guys who defected - they had to be. Federov left Russia never knowing if he would see his family again. When it comes to negotiations., they have a strong sense of their worth. It's also part of the reason they've been successful as players." The final barrier isn't in front of the Russians but above them, a red ceiling that has kept them - and other Europeans - frombecoming NHL head coaches and general managers. But that obstacle will fall too. Write it down, like a Mike Smith quote: In three years, 10 years, whenever, a Russian will be a head coach. When that happens, he'll stare into a camera after a loss and moan that his players didn't stick to the system, tha they wre outworked along the wall, that they ran into a hot goalie. When he spews the cliches, he'll do it in an accent so gentle the NHL will have trouble remembering what all the fuss was about.
Great picture for you
Panthers 4, Hurricanes 2 Ray Whitney scored with 9:41 left as the Florida Panthers snapped their season-high three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over Carolina. NHL goal leader Pavel Bure was held without a point for a second straight game for only the fourth time this season. Pavel registered only one shot on goal, and was a minus one once again. Pavel Bure, a breakaway ace, had been stoned by Irbe early in the second period on his specialty. During a four-on-four at 7:00 of the third, he showed why imitating a defenseman isn't his specialty. Carolina's Paul Coffey turned Bure into a pylon before slicing to the net and scoring to tie the game.
Pavel an uncle, again The Bure brothers have a new winger. Lev Bure is just 7 lbs., 10 oz. and only three days old, but he's the first of the next generation. Lev, named after Flame forward Val's grandfather, was born in Los Angeles Sunday night, within minutes of dad's frantic arrival from Calgary after the Flames series sweep of Edmonton. He's child No. 2 for Val and wife Candace, a former actress in the television series Full House. "I guess you could say we have our own Full House now," said Val, as he arrived back last night from L.A. with one-year-old daughter Natasha, mom Tanya and grandmother Zina in tow. Mom and Lev are expected to stay in Los Angeles, where the couple resides in the off-season, until the Flames visit there later this month. "Everyone is healthy and doing great," said Val, who rejoins his team for tonight's important conference battle with Los Angeles. But dad doesn't know if Lev will be a hockey player. "I don't know if I want him to be a hockey player -- it's a tough sport," laughed Val. "Maybe he'll be a golf pro -- something that is played in good weather and you can't get hurt. "As long as he is healthy he'll play some sport. "We're both very happy -- we have a couple of dogs, a couple of kids. Lots of family around -- it's just awesome."
The All-Star video Pavel was shown in a short story video on ABC prior to the All-Star game. Here are a couple of photos from that video.
Washington 3, Florida 2 (ot)
 The Washington Capitals won on a power play in overtime over the struggling Florida Panthers. Washington pulled within three points of the Panthers in the Southeast Division. The Panthers, who have lost three straight, earned a point for the regulation tie. The Capitals were able to contain Pavel Bure, who entered the game with an NHL-high 42 goals. Bure was held to three shots, all in the first two periods, and a subsequent minus one for the game.
Caging Bure is key for Caps The Florida Panthers, deemed "uncatchable" when they had a 14-point lead over the Washington Capitals five weeks ago, come into the MCI Center tonight to play the Caps for the fourth time overall this season. With the Panthers' lead pared to four points, there will be a lot more on the line for this game than in the previous meetings. With 23 games left in the regular season, this game could be as telling as any for either team. Washington will throw its wedge defense against Pavel Bure, who has scored nearly one-quarter of Florida's 181 goals this season, and try to spoil the anticipated return of Florida goalie Trevor Kidd, out since Dec. 13 with a shoulder injury. "I honestly didn't believe that was possible," Caps coach Ron Wilson said about getting this close to the Panthers after calling them "uncatchable" after his team's 3-1 win over Florida on Jan. 19. "I don't want to be saying now, 'Hey, we've got six weeks to go, let's catch New Jersey.' You have to be reasonable when you set your sights. It just so happens they've slumped a little bit and we've got ourselves in decent position, but four points is still a lot to make up against a good team, and they have a good team." Bure has a league-leading 42 goals and probably will become the first player since 1997-98 to score 50. Ray Whitney and Mark Parrish both have more than 20 goals, and Viktor Kozlov has 42 assists and 56 points as Bure's center, showing why Florida has scored 37 more goals than it has allowed. Keeping Bure within respectable limits keeps the Panthers within sight. "First of all, puck possession down low," Wilson said when asked how to slow the Russian Rocket. "We're a good cycling team, and and if he doesn't have the puck, you've done as much to control him as anything. Being aware of where he is on the ice is very important, and whoever is out there must understand you cannot allow him in the middle. If he's going to damage us, it's [going to have to be] from the outside. "You really have to be diligent, 100 percent committed to knowing where he is and responding in kind when he is on the ice. Because as soon as that transition occurs, it's like when the horn sounds on a submarine and you dive - everybody has to respond to the drill properly." Recently some teams have tried to assign one particular individual to shadow Bure, taking the ice whenever the right wing does. Wilson saw that as too much of a disruption, breaking up lines and probably causing too-many-men penalties. "If he scores one and that's the only goal they score, you probably get a point if not win the game," the coach said. "Because he scores doesn't mean you lose the game. We have to make sure we limit his damage and ensure others don't damage us." The Caps, meanwhile, will be trying to extend a team-record nine-game winning streak and a 12-game (11-0-1) undefeated run at home, one shy of tying the team mark. This comes as the club tries to break its first winless streak (0-1-1) since Christmas, when it lost in Vancouver and tied Chicago. The Caps are 5-3-2 in their last 10, Florida is 5-5-0. "You always worry about [slowing down], but we've played all those games on the road," Wilson said, referring to seven of the Caps' last eight games. "You look at our road record over the last two months, and it's pretty darn good (7-4-3). The games we've lost have been the second halves of back-to-backs, with Pittsburgh the exception. If we're fresh I'm confident we can beat teams, and if we're a little pooped, I'm glad to get out of [Raleigh, N.C., on Monday] with a point." Washington now gets to play two in a row at home. That hasn't happened since January, the month that put the Caps back in contention. Sens beat Panthers for 3rd straight time- - ESPN.comMonday, February 21, 2000 The Ottawa Senators took advantage of one struggling team to gain ground on another, as Ottawa beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 Monday. The Panthers are 5-7 in their last 12 games, while Washington trails Florida by four points in the Southeast Division. "There's a lot of sawdust falling out of the sticks out there," Florida coach Terry Murray said. "They're really pressing." Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 42nd goal for Florida when he swatted the puck under Tugnutt's arm. Bure has 10 points in his last 11 games. But after Bure's score, Florida gave up three unanswered goals -- and another point in the standings. Pavel had only the goal as his point for the night amd was a minus one on five shots on goal So much for privacyby Jose Lambient - - Sun-SentinelMonday, February 21, 2000 It's official. Panthers superstar Pavel Bure and tennis sweetheart Anna Kournikova are an item. And for two people who supposedly don't like to flaunt their private lives for all to see, they made it crystal clear for nearly 700 people at Thursday's Panthers black-tie charity shindig at the Boca Resort. When the shapely Anna, 18, wasn't lovingly resting her head on the dreamy-eyed Pavel's shoulder, the Russian Rocket, 28, softly stroked her blond hair. And when fans were kept at bay by two beefy bodyguards, they sweetly kissed and whispered sweet nothings into each other's ears -- until they spotted a camera not too far away. They separated faster than a Bure breakaway -- until the camera was out of sight. "They're just friends," said team spokesman Mike Hanson, jokingly. Anna's dress, however, was anything but a joke. Most males in the joint couldn't help but stare. The ankle-length strapless number had a slit on its right side that revealed a whole lot of leg when she climbed on stage to help auction a Bure-hosted dinner for six at The Forge in Miami Beach. The bidding slowed at $8,000, already 10 times the value of the prize. But then, Anna and the dress showed up to announce that she, too, would host the dinner. The bidding shot up to $12,500. The winner: Dennis Crowley of Boca. No regrets, no Anna questions, pleaseby Dan Le Batard - - Miami HeraldMonday, February 21, 2000 1) Most annoying thing in the world? "Jealousy." 2) You ever dream about hockey? "All the time. I dream about scoring goals, but there's this one dream I've had since I was 13 or 14. I had it today. The game has started, but I can't finish getting dressed. Can't put on my skates, can't tighten them, can't finish dressing. I'm always very, very late." 3) You're stuck on an island for the rest of your life. One CD, one book and one woman? "[Laughter] The CD would be all Russian music. The book would have to be a philosopher because how many times can you read the same story? I should at least be learning every day. And the woman, I know which one I'd choose, but I'm not going to tell you [laughter]." 4) You're dating Anna Kournikova, aren't you? It's Anna Kournikova, isn't it? "[Laughter] Next question." 5) You can change one thing in the world. Go ahead. "Hard question. People wouldn't get sick. Health is the most important thing you have, other than people you love. And you can't enjoy anything else in life without health." 6) Your house is on fire. Three possessions you're going back to get? "If my friends and family are safe, I don't care what's burning. I'll get new pictures, new trophies. I don't really have a house, though. I have places. That's all I have. I have a few in Moscow and two here, but home is where my family is going to be when I get married and have kids. It's a place I'm going to build, a place I have in my mind." 7) Something people would be shocked to know about you? "There's nothing left. Everyone already knows everything about me -- plus the 90 percent that never happened. The 90 percent that has been written about me but isn't true, everyone knows that, too." 8) Last time you cried about something stupid? "I can't remember the last time I cried about anything. Not since I was little." 9) Win the Stanley Cup this year but shave three years off your life? "If I live to be 73, yes, trade the years. Seventy years living is enough. I wouldn't want to know how many years I had left, though, even if someone could tell me, because life isn't interesting or fun when everything can be predicted." 10) The devil says your eternal soul rests on converting this breakaway. Three goaltenders you'd rather not see? "They're all hard to score against. I had two or three breakaways against Atlanta, and got stopped by this rookie who had just been called up. Then another time I get a hat trick off Patrick Roy, a Hall of Famer, the best goalie of all-time." 11) Celebrity you were must awestruck meeting? "The president of Belarus. The president is a big deal where I'm from, really big, bigger than just a president. He wanted to play hockey with me last December. So I went, and afterward he said, 'What are you doing later?' I said, 'Nothing.' So we went to a sauna and concert. Then he said, 'What are you doing tomorrow?' I said, 'Nothing.' So we went skiing and to a sauna. I was in his home, in his car. After a few hours, you forget he is the president." 12) Most romantic thing you've ever done? "[Laughter] What do you want me to say? Walk under the moon? The girls know that stuff. I'm not good at that stuff. What do girls like? Candles? When I propose, I'll think of something romantic to do." 13) Philosophy to live by? "Enjoy life as long as you don't hurt other people." 14) Something you're insecure about? "My health. I've spent so much time in hospitals -- bruised kidneys, broken anything -- that I don't want to ever go back." 15) Does one love with one's brain or one's heart? "The heart is not involved. It's all brain, all brain. There's this story of a boy and girl, 15 years old, who loved each other but their parents wouldn't let them be together. So they said they wanted to die, so their souls could be together. Then they got tricked and locked in an apartment together for a week with no food, no bathrooms, no nothing. After one week, being embarrassed in front of each other and everything, they hated each other. That's not the heart. That's the brain." 16) Being a superstar in Russia, did you ever lose touch with what it felt like to be normal? "I always try to be normal. It's really important to me. It's hard to be normal sometimes, when people are always treating you like you are not normal, but it's like those days I spent with the president. He was normal. The job you have doesn't matter, doesn't make you better than anyone. We're all the same. I try to treat people the way they treat me." 17) You have to win the championship this year. First three players you choose? "We'll put [Dominik] Hasek in the net. I need a defenseman. Let's go with [Sandis] Ozolinsh. There are so many guys on the same level -- [Paul] Kariya, [Jaromir] Jagr, [Brett] Hull, [Eric] Lindros. Let's go with [Wayne] Gretzky because he is retired and because he said he retired because of me. Let's bring him back." 18) Biggest regret? "I don't really have regrets. Not big ones. Maybe in the future I'll have some, but I'm very happy right now. Everything I've done in my life has led me to right here, so why should I regret anything I've done?" 19) I get the impression you might not want to reveal too much about yourself with some of these answers. No tears, no regrets, no most-feared goalie. Why so private? "It's not about being private. It's that I don't have a favorite anything. That's not who I am. I like to try different things, all the time. If you ask me my favorite meal, and I say hot dog, it isn't true because watch how much I'll hate hot dogs if I them every day for a week. I did a psychology test like this on the Internet the other day, and I didn't believe the score because humans are doing the scoring and humans don't know anything about the brain. I read somewhere that we use only 10 percent of our brain, that we might do the same thing in a situation 99 times but will do something different the 100th time and that scientists have no idea why. For me, there's no one answer to a lot of questions." 20) Word association:
Breakaway -- "Goal." Fire on iceby Marcus Carmouche - - CBS SportsLineSunday, February 20, 2000 The best player in the NHL graced the ice Saturday night at the National Car Rental Center. As for whether he wore the visiting black or home white sweater, the debate is about as close a call as the actual game itself -- a 2-1 Pittsburgh victory over Southeast Division-leading Florida. Pavel Bure vs. Jaromir Jagr -- billed as the battle of the torch carriers. Two of the game's marquee names on center stage and center ice. The frontrunners for the Hart Trophy for league MVP and the Maurice Richard Trophy for top goal-scorer. But unlike the final score, there was no definitive winner in this individual showdown between 28-year-old All-Stars to be hockey's golden boy. Bure (41) and Jagr (37) came into the game as the top goal-scorers in the league. Neither put the puck in the net. Instead, it was Martin Straka's third period goal that provided the margin for the Penguins. Jagr (48), the game's top assist man, did not figure in any of the Pens' scores. Neither superstar had much of an impact at first glance at the box score. Yet, the meeting was met with as much anticipation as a mid-May playoff series. On a Saturday night in South Florida, where beaches and nightlife beckoned, hockey was king -- if only for 60 minutes. The Panthers enjoyed their first sellout of the season as 19,250 flocked to watch two of hockey's premier players. "It was two of the game's best facing off," Pens coach Herb Brooks said. "It was a surprise (that neither Bure nor Jagr scored) when you look at the talent of those two guys." The fans might not have been treated to the offensive onslaught these two have become accustomed to producing, but the excitement generated by their mere presence was worth the price of admission. "I just hope they (the fans) enjoyed the hockey they saw tonight," said Jagr, surrounded by fans clamoring for a post-game autograph. No doubt the fans were treated, even if the stat sheet failed to live up to expectations. Every time hometown favorite Bure laid his stick to the puck, fans lunged forward from the backs of their chairs in anticipation. And though he was on visiting ice, the same could be said for Jagr. Both took four shots in the second period, and based on crowd reaction, it was as if the game hung in the balance with each attempt.
Maybe not to Bure, but to a league trailing the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball in marketing, the value of showcasing its top talent was immeasurable. "It's definitely good for the sport," Florida's Paul Laus said. "They're two great players. They generated excitement out there. You don't get that type of meeting very often." This was the third encounter between Pittsburgh and Florida this season, and the second between Bure and Jagr. Jagr didn't play in the first meeting here. In the game at Pittsburgh, he scored, but was upstaged by Bure's two goals and assist. The two will meet again in mid-March, when the hype perhaps will be even greater. The debate was not settled in this matchup as to who is the NHL's best. Then again, who says the NHL has to have one true dominant superstar?
Fifteen-hundred seats were sold in 30 minutes Saturday morning. The 500 cheapest seats were gone in two minutes. What the season's first sellout crowd anticipated Saturday night was a thriller, a matchup between the game's two most exciting players: the Panthers' Pavel Bure vs. Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr. Fans expected the Panthers, one of the NHL's best home teams with 21 wins, to walk all over the Penguins, one of the NHL's worst road teams with 18 losses. What they got was the opposite. Bure and Jagr were held scoreless, and the Panthers were outplayed during a 2-1 loss in front of 19,250 at National Car Rental Center.
In a battle of the NHL's top two goal-scorers, neither Pavel Bure nor Jaromir Jagr had to show up for work. Martin Straka scored the game-winner 29 seconds into the third period against his former team, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a key 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Pittsburgh goalie, Aubin, made 21 saves for only his second road win this season. "It feels pretty great," he said. "The last game, I stopped (Bure), too. I like playing against him. For now, it's just lucky. It is a surprise when you look at the talent of those two guys," Pittsburgh coach Herb Brooks said. "To keep Bure, (Viktor) Kozlov and (Ray) Whitney off the board, we've got to play pretty tenacious, and I think we did. Pavel had 5 shots on goal and was a minus one for the game. The All-Star line of Bure, Kozlov, and Whitney registered only one point and had a minus-2 rating with nine shots. "It was a pretty even game," Bure said. "We didn't have that lucky bounce. I think I had like three chances in a row, the puck just didn't go in. Somebody asked me yesterday if it was going to be Jagr against Bure. I said it would be Penguins against Panthers, and I was right." As for Jagr versus Bure, neither had a point. Bure had five shots on goal, Jagr had six. Bure had the better scoring chances, including three in a row near the end of the second period.
Let's make this much clear: Jaromir Jagr and Pavel Bure might be one-two on the NHL's goal-scoring list, but they have no interest in racing to find out who's one and who's two. "I don't really care about it," Jagr said, shrugging. "I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't matter to me. There are a lot more important things in life than winning the goal-scoring title." "If it comes, it comes," Bure told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "It's more important to make the playoffs. If I win the title, I win." Nor does either of them plan to contribute much hype to their showdown tonight, when the Penguins meet the Florida Panthers at National Car Rental Center. "It's a big game for our us," Jagr said. "But it's because of our team. We need every point we can get." "Jagr is a great player," Bure said. "But like I've said all along, it doesn't matter who I play against." To many, however, the matchup is relevant, to the extent that it might prove to be the NHL's best man-on-man rivalry since Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky were duking it out for the unofficial crown of best player in the game. At the moment, Jagr and Bure are the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of hockey. And in a league starved for high-profile stars and better television ratings, that matters. "They're entirely different players, but they're the two most dominating players in world right now," said Barry Melrose, ESPN analyst and former Los Angeles Kings coach. "Jagr is intimidating because of his great size and reach, while Pavel is that way because of his speed. Jagr is maybe a little more of a complete player, though." Jagr is the NHL's reigning MVP and its top point-producer with 37 goals and 48 assists. But the buzz of the league the past two months has been Florida's Russian Rocket. Bure, the only man ahead of Jagr in goals, has 41 and appears to be on unstoppable rush toward claiming the Maurice Richard Trophy as the champion in that category. It's hardly something new for him. Bure, a two-time 60-goal man when he skated for the Vancouver Canucks, has terrorized opponents since the Panthers acquired him Jan. 17, 1999, with 54 goals in his first 59 games for Florida. And this season, he has made nearly all of them count. Of his 41 goals, 21 of them have put the Panthers ahead in a game and 10 of them have been game-winners. When he scores at least one goal, Florida is 23-4-2. When he gets two or more, the Panthers are 8-0. Yet he continues to insist he is no one-man team. "It's not me against them," Bure said. "I would score 50 goals in Vancouver and we would still lose eight or nine in a row and miss the playoffs. I don't believe one guy can change things." Maybe not, but many of the Panthers' opponents apparently believe stopping one guy can have quite an impact. Monday night, for example, the Montreal Canadiens employed three defensemen each time Bure's line hit the ice but couldn't keep him from scoring. Two nights later, the New York Rangers moved All-Star defenseman Brian Leetch to left wing and instructed him to follow Bure's every step, and all Bure did was net the winning goal and a team-high six shots. "If you stop Pavel, you've got a shot," Rangers Coach John Muckler said when explaining his strategy to reporters in Miami. "If he's not best player in league, then he's maybe tied with Jagr." Most hockey observers still lean heavily toward Jagr when debating the sport's top talent, but this much is beyond dispute: They have little in common. Bure is all about goals. He owns the most dynamic first step in the game, giving him an unrivaled ability to generate two or three breakaways a game. He frequently parks himself to the left of a goaltender and waits for rebounds, burying them with deadly precision. And he shoots the puck as hard and accurately as anyone in the world. Jagr is all about offense. He can control play in the attacking zone for longer stretches than anyone, using his big frame and powerful legs to shield the puck. He has learned from Lemieux how to read and anticipate plays, making him perhaps the game's most accomplished passer. And he releases his wrist shot with enough velocity that he has added long-range scoring to his arsenal in the past two seasons. "They're different, really," Panthers right winger Scott Mellanby said. "Jagr's more of a power forward. Pavel's more of a home-run hitter." "Some players grow up as passers. Some grow up as scorers," Penguins right winger Alexei Kovalev said. "But when you look at Jaromir, he's a totally different player. He scores goals and he makes passes. He can do it either way." That's how Jagr likes it, and it's precisely why he won't lose a wink of sleep if Bure finishes the year with more goals. "I want to play the best I can play," Jagr said. "Of course, I know if I score goals, it's going to be good for the team because we're going to have a better chance to win. That's the only reason I care about the goals. If you score 30 more or 30 less, it doesn't matter, as long as you win the games. That's all I care about."
Bure. Jagr. If you're an NHL defenseman, those are the worst four-letter words anyone can use. Trying to stop Florida's Pavel Bure or Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr is like attempting to lasso wild horses with a rubber band. Both Bure and Jagr make life miserable for opponents. "They're the two best offensive players in the world right now," said ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, a former NHL defenseman. "Dominating is the word for both of them. They're both unstoppable." South Florida hockey fans will get a rare opportunity to see the two on the ice at the same time when the Panthers (33-20-4) play the Penguins (25-26-6) at 7:30 tonight at National Car Rental Center. "The two of them alone are worth the price of admission," said Bure's teammate, Paul Laus, a former defenseman who went head-to-head with Jagr and Bure many times when Bure was with the Vancouver Canucks. "They're two of the most exciting players in the world. It should be unbelievable to watch." For generations, hockey was thought of as a Canadian sport, but these two Eastern European imports have supplied the game with a different face and a different image. "They both have really strong legs, which makes them very special," said Panthers assistant coach Slavomir Lener, who helped coach Jagr and the Czech Republic to the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. "Their thighs are huge in proportion to the rest of the body. They handle the puck well, and their acceleration is good in the first two or three strides. And they're always in great shape."
The best player in professional hockey is at National Car Rental Center tonight. The question is whether it's the guy wearing the home or road sweater. Florida's Pavel Bure (league-leading 41 goals) and Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr (league-leading 85 points) will share the marquee in a one-night-only South Florida engagement. The Penguins, who were without Jagr during their first trip here Nov. 20, will not return to Sunrise during the regular season. Florida and Pittsburgh could face each other in the opening round of the playoffs. Barring a collapse, the Panthers should lock up either the second or third seed in the Eastern Conference. Whether the Penguins, seeded seventh entering Friday's games, even make the playoffs is speculative. Through Thursday, five points separated Pittsburgh from 11th-seeded Carolina. Regardless of the Penguins' postseason prospects, tonight's Bure-Jagr meeting should be cherished. They are the NHL's most dynamic offensive players, and both are amid MVP-caliber seasons. Jagr is four behind Bure in goals scored and 10 shy in plus/minus rating. A native of the Czech Republic, Jagr does possess healthy cushions in points (19) and assists (23). Neither Bure nor Jagr gets cheated much. They average about five shots a game. "They're both the type of player that can change the outcome of a game in a matter of one shift," Panthers defenseman Bret Hedican said. "They both have a knack for finding the nets and can score goals from anywhere on the ice. Those are the similarities." For all they have in common, Bure and Jagr are equally different, most notably in stature. At 6-2 and 228 pounds, Jagr is four inches taller and about 40 pounds heavier. "Jagr is more of a big, strong guy who likes to handle the puck a lot and beat guys one-on-one coming out of the corner," Hedican said. "Pavel is more of a guy that's lurking, using his acceleration and the way he dances." Added coach Terry Murray: "Jagr is a puck-possession player. He uses his size very well to protect the puck in one-on-one and one-on-two situations. Pavel is more of a player that plays a give-and-go game. He jumps into the openings, looking for someone to give him the puck at the right time." The Panthers don't alter their scheme much to account for Jagr. They don't change their practice routine. For obvious reasons, Murray would not reveal whether he would assign a player to shadow Jagr the way the Rangers' Brian Leetch followed Bure around Wednesday night. Murray does emphasize Jagr in team meetings. He shows a video that amounts to a Jagr highlight reel and points out tendencies. One Florida defenseman in particular knows just about all of Jagr's preferred moves. Jaroslav Spacek and Jagr were teammates on the Czech Republic's Gold Medal-winning 1996 Olympic team. The two engaged in a fair bit of chatter during the last meeting in Pittsburgh, which the Panthers won, 5-2, on Dec. 18. "Sometimes we make some jokes, but not too bad," said Spacek, who tallied two more points than Jagr in that game. "He's the best player in the NHL right now and it's tough to play against him. You watch him close and you know what he tends to do, but you're thinking one thing and he can make two or three things." The Panthers were seven minutes from keeping Jagr scoreless during the December game. Jagr did not find the net until the Panthers had staked a 4-1 lead. It was his fifth goal in his last six games against Florida. "You're not going to eliminate all of his chances," Murray said. "He's too great a player for that. You try to limit the number of quality chances that he's going to get, then you have to have some great stuff from your goaltender."
Dinner with Florida Panthers star Pavel Bure and his friend Anna Kournikova went for $12,500 at the team's charity auction. Originally the prize was to be dinner with Bure only. When the bidding reached $6,500, Kournikova hopped onto the stage alongside Bure, and the price nearly doubled. The Panthers didn't identify the highest bidder. Bure and Kournikova, a star on the women's tennis tour, are neighbors in an apartment building in trendy south Miami Beach. The dinner for eight, including the two celebrities, will take place on South Beach at Bure's favorite restaurant.
Dinner with Pavel Bure is expensive enough. Add his friend, tennis star Anna Kournikova, to the mix, and the cost really skyrockets. A dinner for six with Bure and Kournikova was sold for $12,500 at the Panthers' charity auction following Thursday night's annual "Waiter, There's a Puck in my Soup" dinner at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. The dinner prize originally was supposed to include Bure only and came close to being sold for $6,500. Then, when Kournikova hopped onto the stage and stood alongside her South Beach apartment-building neighbor, the price of the dinner nearly doubled. The dinner will take place at Bure's favorite South Beach restaurant, the Forge. The item that sold for the most money was purchased by a Panthers player, defenseman Robert Svehla. Svehla wrote a check for $24,000 (24 is his uniform number) for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, custom designed with Panthers-color pinstripes and logos on the gas tank and back fender. Svehla, who occasionally used to ride a Harley to practice, said he sold his for $18,000 six months ago and began riding motorcycles three years ago. The retail on the one he bought Thursday was $17,000. "I loved driving it, and I'll love driving this one," Svehla said. "I don't go too fast because it's a little scary." "He's crazy to spend that much money," said buddy Jaroslav Spacek. "It's good I was at a different table." A beaded Panthers' purse designed by Marti Huizenga, owner H. Wayne Huizenga's wife, sold for $12,500. An All-Star Game package of game-worn jerseys and game-used sticks from Bure, Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney went for $7,750. Dinner with Whitney and captain Scott Mellanby at Gigi Romano in Boca Raton was sold for $5,500. A blimp ride for two with defenseman Todd Simpson and a "swim with the dolphins" at Miami Seaquarium with center Rob Niedermayer each were sold for $2,000, while one of the top autographed items sold was a Kozlov jersey for $1,200. The Panthers raised more than $140,000 to benefit Children's Harbor and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Panthers' players, their wives and girlfriends, coaches, broadcasters, management and training staff, acted as waiters and served 600 guests dinner prior to the auction.
It's the ultimate compliment by an opponent, one paid to Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky, among others, over the years. The Rangers paid it to Panthers right wing Pavel Bure on Wednesday night. And everybody who pays to see an NHL game, especially one involving the Panthers, should be happy it failed miserably. The Rangers took their best player, defenseman Brian Leetch, and assigned him to shadow the Panthers' best player, Bure. Using one exciting player to take the fun out of the league's most exciting player isn't endearing to a fan paying $40 per ticket or a league that needs all the thrills it can muster. But, copycatting is big in the NHL these days. Had it worked, most of the teams the Panthers play would now assign a Bure escort of such quality, sacrificing their own offenses. "I think it went very well, and it was very effective," Rangers coach John Muckler said. Bure had six shots, one goal, one breakaway, on which Mike Richter made a fantastic glove save, and he narrowly missed the net on a few others. Leetch was late hopping onto the ice when Bure scored his goal, but overall, the Rangers were lucky Bure didn't roll up his fourth hat trick of the season. Meanwhile, the most important Ranger to contain was wrapped up in a defensive assignment. There were times Bure and Leetch idled at center ice while the puck was in the Rangers' zone, looking like two guys waiting to take their turns in a practice drill. "I was trying to pull Leetch out of the zone and create more room for my teammates," Bure said. "Calgary played me the same way in the 1994 playoffs. It basically makes it a four-on-four game." Bure was nice enough to not point out he had three goals and five assists in that Vancouver-Calgary series. Somebody must have stolen Muckler's VCR or his tapes of recent Panthers games. Leetch did a heck of a job," Muckler said. "What we tried to do was to cut the ice in half in the neutral zone. It gave us an opportunity, by playing a defenseman there, to have three guys back, and Leetch was the right guy to play that position because of his hockey knowledge and the way he can skate."
The Florida Panthers right wing Pavel Bure is so good that teams have devised an all-out strategy to contain him, a sort-of National Hockey League version of basketball's box-and-one defense. But, in a league starved for just the sort of offensive genius that Bure provides nightly -- a league whose major innovation in the 1990's was the stifling neutral zone trap -- is such a strategy good for the game? Rangers Coach John Muckler will leave philosophical questions like that for others. Muckler was just trying to win a game here tonight. And so he had his best player, Brian Leetch, shadow Bure. But the strategy didn't work. Bure opened the scoring with his league-leading 41st goal as Leetch could not get back on the ice in time to stop him. And the Panthers, who also received goals from Ray Sheppard and Scott Mellanby, skated to a 3-0 victory past a thoroughly confused bunch of Rangers, who had never before practiced the scheme targeting Bure. Afterward, Muckler did not have second thoughts. "I thought it went very well and it was very effective," he said of his strategy. "You're going to see more of this from other teams. He dominates the game. The theory behind it is if you stop Bure, you have a chance to win." The loss was the Rangers' third in their last five games (a 1-3-1 slide) as they struggle to hold on to one of the last Eastern Conference playoff spots. With 23 games remaining in their season, the Rangers are 24-26-9. And even if they do qualify for the postseason, their reward could be a first-round matchup with Bure's Panthers. And that would be no reward at all. The Bure strategy, abandoned by Muckler only after the Rangers had fallen behind by three goals midway through the final period, meant they had Leetch, their best offensive defenseman, in a defensive mode just about every shift he took tonight.It also meant the Rangers had three defensemen and two forwards out every time Bure was on the ice. And Bure, who averaged 24 minutes 35 seconds of ice time coming in (the most of any forward in the league this season), skated a game-high 25 minutes 19 seconds tonight. No wonder the Rangers were shut out. Poor Leetch looked bewildered as he skated around in circles looking for the man he was supposed to mark. Leetch logged 23:47, second only on the team to Mathieu Schneider's 23:52. As for Bure? He just shrugged the extra attention off. "It was interesting, because Brian Leetch is one of the best defensemen in the league, so it was really hard to play against him," said Bure, the most valuable player of this season's All-Star Game, who has now scored goals in each of Florida's last four games. "That used to happen to me all the time when I was in Vancouver, and it's happening more and more." The twist, this time around, is that Bure is being shadowed by a defenseman. The Montreal Canadiens had used a similar scheme against the Panthers on Monday night, although not nearly to the same extent. Bure scored a first-period goal, then, too. But the Canadiens rallied at home for a 4-1 victory. Bure scored just 7:46 into the game, with Leetch on the bench as it turned out. Jan Hlavac could not change on the fly quickly enough to get Leetch out, and so Bure blasted a slap shot from the top edge of the right circle, off Schneider's stick and past Rangers goalie Mike Richter, beating him to the far side. As is his custom, Bure watched the replay of his goal on the big scoreboard that hangs over center ice. And when he was finished, a big smile spread across his face, like a mischievous little boy who knew he had just gotten away with something under his teacher's eyes. "You just have to be patient and wait for your chance," Bure said. "You can't get frustrated." Instead, Bure ended up frustrating the Rangers, as they played their left-wing lock on Bure only, with Leetch acting as the left wing. Muckler rotated his five other defensemen, juggled his offensive lines, and did everything he could think of on a drawing board to stop Bure and the Panthers. "I thought it was a good idea, actually," said Leetch, whom Muckler had asked about the strategy late Tuesday night. "Our plan was to limit that line and try to get the lead." But, as the final score unquestionably showed, it did not work tonight.
The plan, utterly defensive in nature, seemed contrary to every fiber of John Muckler's attack-minded coaching being. But a day before the puck had been dropped, Pavel Bure already was in the Rangers' heads. So Muckler decided to drop just about everything in an attempt to stop him. It didn't work. Bure scored the critical first goal off a breakdown in the plan's execution and the Florida Panthers rather easily hammered out a 3-0 victory over the slipping Rangers here last night. "I thought it went very well," Muckler said of the game plan of deploying defenseman Brian Leetch as a left wing whenever right wing Bure jumped onto the ice for Florida. The idea was to go with a left-wing lock like the one Detroit used to win two Stanley Cups — a strategy that intended to force all enemy rushes up one side of the ice by keeping the left wing always in a defensive posture. The Rangers went over it during their morning meeting but had no chance to practice it. Leetch, who had never before played an NHL shift as a forward at even strength, was chosen for his superior skating, high hockey IQ and elite conditioning, which would enable him to play as much and as often as Bure. Only trouble was, once Bure scored his league-leading 41st goal 7:46 into the game, the plan's worst side-effect pretty well crippled the Rangers' offense. Whenever Bure was on the ice, the Rangers deployed only two forwards and could generate little or no attack — and he was on the ice for a whopping 25:19. Once Florida got the lead, Panthers coach Terry Murray deployed Bure as often as possible against the Czechmates line of Jan Hlavac, Petr Nedved and Radek Dvorak, thereby forcing the breakup of the Rangers' only consistently productive trio. "I think they purposely put Bure out against Petr's line knowing that Brian would be out on the wing," defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. "And that's been our top scoring line. But we definitely need production from the other lines as well and the power play." Had the Rangers scored the game's first goal, the entire strategy might have been more successful. But in the eighth minute, Hlavac got caught on the ice when Bure jumped on and the Panthers mounted a rush. After a hesitant stride toward the bench, where a standing Leetch was waiting to hop over the boards, Hlavac said he was told to stay on the ice. He wound up retreating into a bad defensive position, leaving Bure too much room to skate into a loose puck and rip a straight-on slapshot that deflected off Schneider's stick and over Richter's right pad. Bure wouldn't score again, but he was hardly shut down, firing six shots on goal and six others that missed the net. The Rangers, meanwhile, stuck with their Leetch-wing-lock through a second period in which Ray Sheppard scored a late power-play goal (after another undisciplined penalty by Valeri Kamensky) to make it 2-0 and until Scott Mellanby's put-back 7:57 into the third made it 3-0. Said Richter: "The real danger is (Bure) is obviously a great player and you have to honor him in any way you can, but not to the extent where you focus solely on him and leave the rest of your squad vulnerable.
With all due respect to Jaromir Jagr and Paul Kariya, it's clear to me that Pavel Bure is the most exciting player in the NHL today. Game after game, he electrifies the crowds he plays in front of. Almost single-handedly, Bure has revitalized the Florida Panthers' franchise. As of this writing, he has 41 goals in 49 games, a pace that would give him a shot at breaking his personal high of 60, which he achieved twice with the Vancouver Canucks. He's doing this while teams are devising new defensive schemes to try to stop him. In his last two games, against Montreal and the New York Rangers, every time Bure was on the ice, the other team put three defensemen on the ice with the express purpose of shutting Bure down. So much for that idea. In Montreal, he scored the Panthers' lone goal in a 4-1 loss. Against the Rangers, he scored the first goal in a 3-0 victory. The Rangers made one mistake while he was on the ice — they failed to get their third defenseman, in this case Brian Leetch, on the ice because of a faulty change by Jan Hlavac. Bure was able to take advantage of the lapse and score. For the game, he had six shots on goal, plus six shots attempted. Mike Richter robbed him on a breakaway with a brilliant glove save. Bure was also stopped on other good chances. Teams are so conscious of his presence on the ice and the threat he brings, that they tend to overplay him and that creates openings for people on the ice with Bure. It can't be a total reliance on Bure, but his skills demand that other teams figure out another way to stop him. It's pretty difficult to hide on the ice, but if anyone can do it, it's Bure. He has this great knack of slipping away from opposing defenders to get open around the net. What may be most exciting of all is seeing him slip out of his own zone a little early, take a pass from one of his defensemen or linemates at the red line, and break away all alone on opposing goaltenders. By staying in motion and anticipating the play, he gets free. He's usually on the ice with highly skilled defensemen — most recently with players like Robert Svehla or Jaroslav Spacek, who are capable of hitting him with long outlet passes. When Bure sees them clearly get the puck, he's able to then get into high gear, break out of the zone, and they hit him with a pass. Off he goes. More often than not, he scores. Sometimes when he's in one-on-one against a goalie, it's just not fair. It's not just the blue-liners, but the forwards that look for him also. He's been playing a lot with Viktor Kozlov and Ray Whitney, whose first thoughts are to pass Bure the puck. If he's not available, they'll make another play. But most of the time they'll find a way to get him the puck. Bure's presence has increased attendance at the National Car Rental Center, where the Panthers have compiled the third-best home-ice record in the NHL this season. Although the games aren't sold out, don't blame that on Bure. Crowds are improving. Perhaps doubting fans still want to see the Panthers prove themselves in the playoffs. But if they come, they get to see Bure do what he does best: score goals. Those that stay home are missing something special. He's worth the price of admission.
 Pavel Bure celebrates his firt period goal Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 41st goal as the Florida Panthers dominated the slumping New York Rangers in a 3-0 blanking. Not even a shadow could stop Bure, who whistled a slap shot past All-Star goaltender Mike Richter in the first period to open the scoring. It ended up being his league-best 10th game-winner. New York used two-time Norris Trophy winner Brian Leetch at left wing opposite Bure, but the plan upset the Rangers as they managed only 25 shots, mostly harmless. "It was interesting because Brian Leetch is one of the best defensemen in the league," Bure said. "So it was really hard to play against him. That used to happen all the time to me and it is happening more and more." "If he's not the best player in the league, maybe he's tied with Jagr," Muckler said of Bure. "His hand-eye coordination is unbelievable. He's so quick around the net. He has great speed and a great shot." Pavel had six shots on goal and was a plus one for the game.
 Pavel's post game interview
For one night, Jesse Belanger overshadowed Pavel Bure. Belanger scored twice and added a pair of assists against his former team as the Montreal Canadiens overcame Bure's league-leading 40th goal for a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Bure scored for the third straight game, 7:51 into the opening period, giving him at least 40 goals for the sixth time in his career. He has four goals in three games against Montreal this season. Bure's 40th goal of the season was one of his eight shots on gaol in this game on a team whose total was only 16 shots. Pavel was a minus one for the game
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The buzz begins almost from the moment Pavel Bure crosses the red line, hoping for the puck from a Florida Panthers teammate. And when it comes, the crescendo builds as quickly as the Russian's speed. A few short strides to split the defense. Fake one way. Shoot the other. Red light. Foghorn. ``When he starts off with the puck, he pulls you out of your seat,'' said Panthers general manager Bryan Murray, whose seven-player deal with Vancouver for the ``Russian Rocket'' has suddenly turned around a humdrum team. Bure scored two goals in his Panthers debut, a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. He scored another in the next game and had three more against Philadelphia six days later, becoming only the second NHL player in the past 20 years to score six goals in his first three games with a new team. After six games, Bure had eight goals and 11 points. The only thing that slowed him was a twisted knee and strained calf in a Feb. 5 game against Pittsburgh, causing him to miss the past week. ``He gives us something this franchise has never had -- a superstar,'' center Rob Niedermayer said. ``He can go out there and score a goal at any time.'' Even when they reached the 1996 Stanley Cup finals, the Panthers didn't really have a star. They were a team that relied on hard work, grit and John Vanbiesbrouck's rock-solid goaltending. Bure changed all that. His boyish good looks, Mach-1 speed and deadly accuracy give the team a new identity. While hockey remains largely a niche sport in the region, Bure found himself accosted by well-wishers at a Fort Lauderdale grocery store just days after arriving. The 27-year-old Moscow native is amused by the attention. ``You can't have one player do it all,'' Bure said. ``It's got to be the whole team, obviously. We've got a good young team that's working really hard and trying to do the best they can.'' Bure's exit from Vancouver was bitter. A running feud with management led the three-time 50-goal scorer to sit out the season's first 3 1/2 months and tell the Canucks he'd never play for them again. He stayed in Russia and worked out twice a day with his old club CSKA Moscow, formerly the Soviet Red Army team. But he got no game action until joining the Panthers for their New York road trip. ``What's so unique about what happened here is that Pavel hadn't played since April,'' coach Terry Murray said. ``The way he made an impact, it impressed the whole hockey world.'' Bure also is impressing his young teammates. Nine Panthers are 24 or younger, the result of a youth movement begun last year. ``You can see what you have to do to get to that level,'' said the 24-year-old Niedermayer. ``He practices the way he plays. If you want to reach the next level, you see what you have to do. He has everybody picking up their games. ``If we're down one goal, it's nice to have a guy that's capable of scoring at any time. It makes you play hard all the way to the end.'' Now the Panthers must figure a way to keep that same level until their star returns, which could be in the next several days. Florida, second in the Southeast Division going into the weekend, was 0-2-1 in its first three games since Bure's injury. Terry Murray said that's his problem, not Bure's. ``We're not asking him to be (a clubhouse leader),'' the coach said. ``We just want him to be the best player on the ice. Then things will start to fall into place.'' They certainly have from a marketing standpoint. For Bure's home debut against Montreal, a 2,000-copy run on the team program -- Bure bumped Kirk Muller off the cover -- sold out in 15 minutes. So did the seven No. 10 Bure authentic jerseys that could be produced in time, selling for $324 each. Even some three weeks later, No. 10 doesn't stay on the racks long. ``As fast as it comes in, it goes out,'' said Ron Dennis, the Panthers' director of merchandising. ``It's easily the most popular jersey now. We have seamstresses working as quickly as possible to put his name on.'' On Monday, Bure signed a $47.5 million contract extension that will keep him with the Panthers at least through spring 2004. By comparison, owner H. Wayne Huizenga's expansion fee to join the league in 1993 was $50 million. ``It's a big responsibility. I'm just going to go out there and do the best I can,'' Bure said. If it's anything close to his first half-dozen games, the Panthers will be ecstatic. ``Pavel gives us something we haven't had before,'' team president Bill Torrey said. Call it Rocket power.
It's a two-man race for MVP in the NHL this season. I could bore you with statistical comparisons of Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr, but you don't want to read that. Of course, this column isn't at all about what you want. If it were, it would be filled with completely unrelated references to attractive female athletes, and frankly, that's not what I'm all about. So here are the boring statistical comparison: Jagr has 82 points (36 goals, 46 assists) in just 48 games, or 1.7 points a game. He is plus-21 on the season. Owen Nolan is second in the league in points, with 66, and he has played 10 more games than Jagr. "I'm not a goal scorer," Jagr said. "I look more to pass. I don't have his speed." Bure has 37 goals, best in the league, in just 45 games. That's almost a goal a game -- something players simply do not do anymore. The Panthers are 21-1-2 when he scores a goal, and have gone from a playoff no-show to an Eastern Conference contender thanks to his impact.
Pavel has her. Jaromir doesn't. (See, I do give you guys what you want. But you already knew that). Kournikova -- shown here in this photos which is completely unnecessary but rather compelling -- has a "thing" going on with Pavel, according to tabloid reports I believe to be fact. This much is true: The two rich athletes live in the same condo in South Florida. (Dang, wish I had thought of that one). Bure refuses to deny the rumors. "I guess it comes with the territory," said Bure, ever so coy. "I understand people like hockey a lot and they want to know things. ... I can talk about hockey, but my private life is mine." So the nature of this "thing" is undetermined, but whatever it is, it certainly has improved his hockey game. Anna has that affect on athletes. Consider this evidence: Sergei Fedorov, while in the midst of a "thing" with Anna, signed a lucrative six-year contract and was a prolific point machine. Since that "thing" was broken off -- by Anna, we can only assume -- Fedorov has struggled, and this season he has just 15 goals in 45 games. Don't try to tell me that this is unrelated. Then, there is that tennis guy, Philippoussis. He was caught smooching the aforementioned 18-year-old (that's legal, folks) tennis starlet in the parking lot of the Australian Open. Spurred on by this kiss, Philippoussis went on to do great things in the tournament. I think. I wasn't exactly sitting up nights waiting eagerly for those results. Now, it's Bure's turn to ride Kournikova's magic to greatness.
 Mark Parrish had two goals and one assist, and Mikhail Shtalenkov made 24 saves in the Florida Panthers' 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 39th goal at 8:32 of the third period to give Florida a 3-1 lead and seal the game for the Panthers, the only NHL team with a winning record (6-4-3) in Boston. "We've played pretty well lately," Bure said. "I truly believe we should have won (Friday) night as well. With our offense, we've always got a chance."
 Next week's edition of 'The Hockey News', dated February 25, will partially feature Pavel Bure on the cover, and the following article inside. "Rocket Reign Takes Hold" When they were growing up in Moscow, Pavel Bure and his kid brother, Valeri, would skip school to play shinny on a little pond by their home We would never suggest youngsters follow suit. But the Bures' truancy has paid off. Sparked by superstar Pavel's three goals - two set up by Valeri - the World tamed North America 9-4 at the 50th NHL All-Star Game before a sellout crowd of 19,300 at Air Canada Centre. It was the first time in three tries the World has beaten North America. Pavel Bure was presented with a truck a player of the game and when it was all over, Valeri 25, marvelled at what Pavel, 28, had accomplished. "I'm his biggest fan," said the younger Bure. "Sometimes when I'm watching him, I'm doing a lot of standing around." Sort of like the North American defenders when the Bures were dangling with the puck. Look no further than defencemaen Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and Phil Housley of the Calgary Flames. Both finished the game minus - 5. It was the first time the Bure boys had played together since the 1998 Olympics and the first time brothers had combined for a goal in an NHL All-Star Game since the Richards - Maurice and Henri - did it in 1958. Fittingly, both Maurice Richard and Pavel Bure are nicknamed 'Rocket' and Bure is a good bet to win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal-scorer this season. The Florida Panther had 37 goals in 45 games to lead Pittsburgh Penguin Jaromir Jagr, who scored 36 times in 48 contests. Pavel came close in the third period to adding a fourth goal - which would have tied an All-Star Game record shared by four players - on a feed from Valeri, but was turned away by New York Rangers' goalie Mike Richter. On the way backto the bench after the play, Pavel put his arm around his brother, the Calgary Flames' leading scorer, and whispered into his ear. "After the second period I told Valeri I already had two goals and if I got the puck, go to the net and I would make sure I got it to him for a goal," Pavel said. "But he made the extra pass back to me, trying to get me another goal." To which the personable Valeri responded: "Younger brothers never listen to their older brothers." Florida's Viktor Kozlov centered the line and picked up three assists. "Pavel can get the puck and when he does, he can score," Kozlov said. "I just tried to stay out of his way." Given the talent on the ice, the game was played at an excruciatingly slow pace - rather than show replays of some goals, it would have been fitting to use an artist's rendition of the play. The Europeans, known for their tic-tac-toe playmaking, outshot North America 48-32. The North Americans passed far too much in the offensive zone, often at the expense of a clear shot on goal. That, coupled with the game's unofficial "no hitting" rule, cost them dearly. While much of the attention was on the scorers, the goalies held their own. North American starter Curtis Joseph of the hometown Maple Leafs made a number of huge saves, including a beauty on Kozlov who broke in alone,though the World opened up a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes. Tommy Salo of the Edmonton Oilers deserved consideration for player of the game - simply because he twice chased down pucks to avoid icing calls. And washington Capitalls' netminder Olaf Kolzig, who entered the game at the start of the third period with the World clinging to a 5-4 advantage, blocked all eight North American shots he faced. Kolzig, who was born in South Africa, grew up in Canada, plays in the U.S., but qualified for the World team due to his German citizenship, became the first goalie in 18 years to get a shutout in the third period. Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues scored twice for the World with Jagr, Dmitry Yushkevich of the Leafs, Miroslav Satan of the Buffalo Sabres and radek Bonk of the Ottawa Senators adding singles. Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes, Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks and ray Whitney of the Panthers replied for North America. Scotty Bowman of the Red Wings was the winning coach; Pat Quinn of the Leafs was the loser.
Jason York, Radek Bonk and Shawn McEachern scored in a 2:49 span late in the third period to lift the Ottawa Senators to a wild 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers. Ron Tugnutt stopped 21 shots for Ottawa, which won for just the second time in the last nine (2-4-3) despite blowing a 2-0 lead. The Senators appeared demoralized after All-Star Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 38th goal to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead midway through the third period. But Ottawa took advantage of some of lucky bounces to regain the lead. With 5:39 remaining, York caught a Panthers' clearing attempt in the neutral zone and darted alone up the right side before roofing the puck over goaltender Mike Vernon to tie the game. Just over two minutes later, Bonk took a pass in the right faceoff circle and attempted a centering pass to a defenseman, but the puck deflected off the skate of former Senators defenseman Lance Pitlick and past Vernon for the game-winner. McEachern capped the barrage with 2:50 remaining by firing the puck through Vernon's pads after taking a pass from Joe Juneau in the slot. Tugnutt, who stopped Bure on a breakaway early in the second period, won for the first time in six decisions. Pavel registered six shots on goal for his goal and an assist, and was plus one for the evening.
There were no teary reunions at GM Place on Wednesday. Calgary Flames star Valeri Bure was in Vancouver to play the Canucks, but he made no attempt to speak to his father, Valdimir. "No, we're not talking," Valeri said, when asked if he'd try to reach his dad. Vladimir lives just across False Creek from GM Place, but he might as well be on the other side of the ocean as far as Valeri and older brother Pavel are concerned. Valeri and Pavel stopped talking to their father two years ago. Vladimir is deeply hurt. "There's no question that someday it's going to be resolved," says Valeri. "There's always family ups and downs and, ah, some day it will all be good." Valeri wouldn't give any reasons for the dispute, but he's disappointed that his father chose to reveal his feelings in an interview with The Province on the weekend. "It's something that's so, so personal that's going on in our family. We only want todiscuss it with ourselves. "I was surprised (that his father spoke). You don't wish for anybody to put that out. It's disappointing. We talk about it with our family and you just don't talk about that anywhere, so it's a little bit disappointing." Valeri, meanwhile is on pins and nedles with wife Candace about to give birth to their second child. "Our due date is the 20th (of February)," he said. "We're super excited. We just can't wait." He was asked if he has plans to play games with a pager. "Yeah," he laughed. "Our PR guy is on it. He has the phone number and hopefully it won't be during a game."
During these days of his sons' greatest achievement and recognition, his name is being dragged through the mud for what amounts to a marital dispute and the sin of being old-fashioned. His income potential as a trainer for NHL players may have been threatened by the publicity based on what Pavel Bure thought about his first knee operation rehab. If you ask a friend of both the father and the Bure brothers, it's the boys who really should lighten up and drive the reconciliation process. Pavel and Valeri, of course, are right near the top of a very narrow pyramid of hockey players, the greatest brother act in the NHL and one of the best of all-time. While you might argue with his methods, the old man got them there. He is cast as the overbearing tyrant who pushed too hard and now fouled up a rehab, the latter analysis which may not hold up in light of the facts. Bure's supposed professional crime is that the rehab he did with Pavel after his first knee operation in Vancouver was such that it contributed to the need for a second operation, last season in Florida. "First of all I don't believe he said that," said Bure of the statements attributed to Pavel. "What people don't remember is we did the (first) rehab under the supervision of the Canucks, their doctors and their strength coach. They watched everything closely. They test him all the time and cleared him to play. And the recovery wasn't bad. He did score 51 goals." Bure contends it was only after Pavel left him did the player run into the problems which recurred in Florida. The boys stopped training with Vladimir at the end of the summer of '97 and only after missing the following summer's training and then the fall with the holdout did Pavel's problem arise. Vladimir may be tough but just about everyone who submits to his regimen shows considerable progress. That's why he still works with NHL players and why his old-fashioned, hard-driving approach likely turned his sons off. But there are lots of dads who pushed their kids in various directions. That normally doesn't break up a family. "He has tremendous practical knowledge," said Dusan Benicky, the program director and physiologist at Human Performance in Burnaby who has worked alongside Bure and with the boys in the past. "He is very focused on goals and is determined to reach them. Yes, he can be tough. But if you want to get somewhere that isn't always a bad thing. "I've seen this from both sides and I think the boys are a little bit at fault in this. I consider them all friends and Vladimir is pretty upset by all this stuff." By North American standards, Vladimir is a taskmaster, no question. But when you remember he was raised in the old Soviet Union and learned much of his practical knowledge in that system you understand where he comes from. Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley like to tell the story of the day the latter got his big contract from Pittsburgh after his rights were dealt from L.A. for Shawn McEachern in August of '93. Pavel Bure was summering in L.A. that year so they invited him on a quick trip to Vegas to celebrate McSorley's $2 million US per year deal. They hoisted a jar or two and hung in the casino most of the night and arrived back about 6 a.m., flopping into bed. Vladimir dragged Pavel out at 8 a.m. and worked him out four hours anyway. It was that work ethic, instilled and demanded by Vladimir, that carried Pavel to the top, with Valeri working just as hard and now finding himself not far behind. It's a bit hypocritical for the brothers to shut him out when he was largely the reason they attained such success, even if they do think he did their mother dirt. Now there may well be things we don't know about in the husband-wife relationship that are causing the kids to shun their dad. Fair enough. But if not, these kids should give the guy a break. Regardless of what happens, some good has come of this. Bure has resolved to contact his sons to try again. "Life is too short to go on like this," he said. "I will call them."
Valeri Bure is not his father's son, but then nobody is these days. In a family as fractured as the Russia they come from, Valeri Bure is closest to his big brother, Pavel. And now he is as near to him in the National Hockey League scoring race as he has always been away from the ice. Valeri, fresh from an all-star game where he and his sibling linemate eclipsed everyone else in the World Team's victory in Toronto, has finally emerged from his superstar brother's inky shadow. Valeri has already set a career-high with 28 goals this season, is leading an undertalented Calgary Flames team towards the playoffs, is due a huge pay raise when his current contract expires, and with actress-wife Candace Cameron is expecting a second child on Feb. 20. Life is good for little brother. "It's not always good," Valeri, 24, grinned before the Flames' game Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks. "But these are times you cherish. The baby is a blessing. The all-star game, my brother was there, it was exciting. My mum was there, too. It's pretty exciting." Conspicuous by his absence from Toronto was Pavel and Valeri's father, Vladimir who lives in Vancouver but hasn't spoken with his sons in two years. The family split - the boys are close to their mother, who lives in Moscow after divorcing Vladimir - has been public knowledge since it was reported by The Vancouver Sun in 1997. But it spilled back into the media recently when Sports Illustrated quoted a jilted Vladimir in the magazine's January feature story on Pavel. "You're always surprised; you don't wish anybody would bring it up in the paper or wherever it might be," Valeri said. "We talk about it within our family. There's no question someday it's going to be resolved. There's always in families ups and downs. Someday it will be good." Valeri has been good all season. His 28 goals - Bure had 52 points in 53 games - were tied for fifth in the NHL and only once this season has the 5'10" winger gone more than three games without scoring. "It was pretty big," he said of going to the all-star game. "Obviously, I was hoping to get to play in the all-star game. But when they actually call you, it's a pretty big surprise. Just to play with [Pavel] was a pleasure. It was like a dream come true. It seemed like we understand each other on the ice." Pavel was named the showcase game's MVP while Valeri set up two of his brother's goals. "I think it would be cool," Valeri said of one day playing on the same NHL team as Pavel. "It would be really cool. We really like to play with each other. We played street hockey [as kids]. We had a pond outside our apartment. We'd just take sticks and go out there and mess around. More than anything, it was like supporting each other. That's the way it is now."
Florida 4, San Jose 1 Ray Sheppard scored twice, Viktor Kozlov had two assists and Mike Vernon made 28 saves as the Florida Panthers defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-1. Bure, the NHL's leading goal scorer with 37, was left pointless, but Sheppard picked up the load. "It's a good sign that we're able to win when Pavel doesn't score," coach Terry Murray said. "We need other people on all the lines to contribute every night. … Shepp gets a couple. Pavel registered 4 shots on goal, and was a plus one for the night. |
Hmmm. That's pretty darn close, if you ask me. As a result, we need some sort of tie-breaker before we cast the important beer.com vote in one direction or another, and that tiebreaker is Anna Kournikova.
CP / Pavel and Valeri Bure celebrate an all-star goal by Pavel.
VLADIMIR BURE: resolves to call sons